Your Isolated Islands

Last week, we featured Jenna Schnuer’s write-up of the new book Atlas of Remote Islands: Places I Have Never Been and Never Will, and asked you, dear readers, to write in and tell us which remote island most intrigued you and why. And to be honest, it was one of the most vibrant, thoughtful batch of comments I’ve seen on this blog in the past three years. All of which made it distinctly hard to pick our two winners, who will each receive a copy of the book. But after careful consideration, here they are:

Svalbard! When you say the word “island,” it seems most people automatically think tropical. But the Svalbard archipelago is the extreme opposite of that. It’s cold and remote and yet still exotic – so enticing. Plus, Svalbard is such a fun word to pronounce. — Jenny Coon Peterson

My attention is drawn to islands that are obscure and unexpected: the islands of Siwa Oasis in the Egyptian Sahara, for instance. I would love to explore the islands of Tibet, which sit in lakes as high as 17,000 feet and are truly difficult to reach. Some have ruins or monasteries; one is the size of Manhattan but I’ve never managed to find any information on it. (As for remote islands I’ve actually been to, I have fond memories of camping on an island in a lake on Glover Island in Grand Lake on the island of Newfoundland — a triply-nested island.) — Josh

Thanks to all those of you who submitted your comments! If we ever create a remote island expedition, we’re taking all of you with us.

[The Atlas of Remote Islands]

Photo: Paul Nicklen/NGS, from the April 2009 issue of National Geographic